Tuesday notes
Published 3:42 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Just a few things today:
– Center Vitali Karamnov and defenseman Tyler Kieffer should be back in the lineup tomorrow against Spokane. Karamnov and Kieffer didn’t make the trip Sunday to Portland because of the flu, but both practiced today. Center Zack Dailey didn’t practice today because of the flu, but is traveling with the team to Spokane, so the team is hopeful he’ll be ready to go.
– Speaking of traveling to Spokane, the team is headed out a day early this time, taking off this afternoon for tomorrow’s game. Usually the team leaves the morning of the game when playing in Spokane, but the team decided not to take any chances with the pass. I imagine the fact they’re taking on the top team in the league factored into the decision, too.
– Everett coach John Becanic was fined $500 by the league today for his comments following Friday’s 3-1 loss to Seattle, when he described the officiating as “Mickey Mouse.” Can’t say I didn’t see that one coming.
– If you’ve looked at the standings on the WHL Web site lately, you’ll have noticed that they’re now listed in conference format rather than divisional format. That was done because of the change in the playoff format. Now the first-round pairings are based on how the teams finished in the conference rather than how they finished in the division. In the past the division champs played the fourth-place team in the division, while second and third squared off. Now the top team in the conference faces the eighth-place team in the conference and so on.
